Kharif sowing dips 3% to 894 lakh ha despite 81% coverage of normal area

New Delhi: Area sown to kharif crops such as rice has declined by 3 per cent to 894.22 lakh hectares till July-end this season, even as sowing has been completed in 81 per cent of the normal area, according to Agriculture Ministry data released on Monday.

Sowing had covered 920.71 lakh hectares in the year-ago period.

Total kharif coverage stood at 1,143.27 lakh hectares in the full 2025-26 season. Kharif sowing begins with the onset of the southwest monsoon in June, with harvesting starting from October.


Paddy, the principal kharif crop, was sown in 301.49 lakh hectares as on July 31, down from 308.39 lakh hectares a year earlier. The shortfall was reported mainly from Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, Odisha, Haryana, Telangana and Uttar Pradesh.

Pulses acreage also fell to 95.18 lakh hectares from 101.60 lakh hectares. Arhar was sown in 34.91 lakh hectares against 38.44 lakh hectares, and moong in 29.22 lakh hectares against 32.23 lakh hectares. Urad, however, rose to 21.08 lakh hectares from 19.04 lakh hectares. The decline in pulses area was concentrated in Karnataka, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Odisha and Madhya Pradesh.

Coarse cereals acreage stood lower at 157.77 lakh hectares, against 170.60 lakh hectares a year ago. Maize was sown in 83.56 lakh hectares, jowar in 12.16 lakh hectares, bajra in 57.44 lakh hectares and ragi in 1.87 lakh hectares.

Oilseeds area rose marginally to 172.32 lakh hectares (171.13 lakh hectares), with soyabean at 117.68 lakh hectares (118.52 lakh hectares), groundnut at 43.06 lakh hectares (41.90 lakh hectares) and sunflower at 0.98 lakh hectares (0.58 lakh hectares).

Among cash crops, sugarcane area edged up to 57.58 lakh hectares from 56.72 lakh hectares, while cotton acreage fell to 103.54 lakh hectares from 106.06 lakh hectares. Jute/mesta area rose marginally to 6.33 lakh hectares from 6.21 lakh hectares. The decline in cotton area was reported from Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Haryana, Gujarat, Karnataka and Punjab.

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has recorded a 12 per cent deficient southwest monsoon till August 2. El Nino conditions prevail over the equatorial Pacific Ocean, with sea surface temperature anomalies remaining above normal across the central and eastern equatorial Pacific, the Ministry said, adding that these conditions are expected to strengthen further during the season.

Forecasts from the Monsoon Mission Coupled Forecast System also indicate continued strengthening of El Nino through the southwest monsoon season.

In a separate release, the Central Water Commission said live storage in 166 reservoirs stood at 65.37 per cent of the corresponding year-ago level and 92.99 per cent of normal storage, as on July 30.

States with better reservoir storage than last year include Assam, Chhattisgarh, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Odisha and Punjab, while Goa's storage was at par with last year. States with lower storage than a year ago include Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Mizoram, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Tripura, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand and West Bengal. PTI